New safety measures - including a $125,000-per mile median guard cable - MoDOT will install next spring are expected to help reduce crashes on a deadly curve between Jefferson City and Holts Summit.
Mel Ray Curve is just north of the South Summit Drive interchange on U.S. 54 between Jefferson City and Holts Summit.
Missouri Highway Patrol Cpl. Kyle A. Green was among the troopers who investigated a mid-day July 12 crash at the Mel Ray Curve, which left two Jefferson City High School students dead.
After a safety study of a 100-mile stretch of U.S. 54, MoDOT announced Wednesday it would install high-friction surface treatments, new warning signs, and guard rails and cable barriers on seven deadly curves. The seven locations have been the sites of 10 crashes causing 11 fatalities between Jan. 1, 2001, and July 19, 2016. MoDOT said 410 crashes had occurred on the span during the study period.
"I think the new systems will reduce the number of crashes in that area," Green said. "That curve has a record of a lot of attention" because of injury and fatality crashes.
"No preventive system is perfect. But the median cable barrier there could reduce crashes. You can still see some vehicles go under the cable and some, like trucks, go over it. But the cable barriers do help reduce these head-on crashes."
Caleb H. McClain, 16, of Jefferson City, and his girlfriend, Karlie D. Jones, 15, of Holts Summit, were killed when McClain's westbound Toyota Corolla crossed the median and struck an eastbound 2015 Mac tractor-trailer driven by Francis D. Evers, 52, of Jefferson City. Evers received moderate injuries in the head-on collision.
After the highly publicized double fatality, MoDOT extended a previously announced safety study of U.S. 54 to include the Mexico to Jefferson City link, as well as from the Capital City to Camdenton.
"In light of this recent crash, we will extend that review to include 54 from Jefferson City to Mexico, and that safety audit will now include the Mel Ray Curve," District Engineer David Silvester said in July. "We'll also be performing an analysis of the specific location following this recent crash."
Of the guard cable to be installed at the Mel Ray Curve, Silvester said the cables prevent vehicles from crossing the median about 95 percent of the time.
"We estimate that 45 to 50 lives are saved each year as a result of guard cable," he said. "Guard cable costs vary by location, but a general estimate is about $125,000 per mile. It costs about $12,000 per mile per year to maintain our guard cable."
The Mel Ray Curve also will receive the high-tech friction surface treatment, Silvester said Tuesday.
Green added the Mel Ray Curve was not the scene of the quadruple fatality that occurred on a nearby U.S. 54 straight-away in August 2015.
"They're completely separate crashes, although we hear a lot of people confuse them as similar crashes at the same location," he said.